Le padel knew an unprecedented boom in Sweden, and Norway would like to follow in the footsteps of its Scandinavian neighbor. Padel Magazine meet Jan Kvalheim et Bjorn Maaseide, two of the founders of Inter-Padel.

“98% of Norwegians do not know padel"

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: What is the situation of padel in Norway ? Can you give me some figures?

Jan Kvalheim: “Le padel is new to Norway, and there are currently around 75 courts in Norway, most of them being indoor courts. There are now a lot of people who want to open padel and we think there will be around 200 courts before 2022. We hope that Inter Padel will have 8-10 crosses before 2022, with around 75 courts. ”

“At InterPadel, we are 6 people with different skills and we all have a passion for padel ! Our aim is to become the biggest chain of padel in Norway - then in the Nordic countries - and also in Europe, within a few years. ”

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: The development is amazing in Sweden, what do you need in Norway to achieve the same?

Bjorn Maaseide: "Le padel is very little known here in Norway, so we have a huge marketing job ahead of us. 98% of the population does not know what padel. "

“One of our goals with InterPadel is make known the padel to 50% of the population before 2022. Many of us, who create centers of padel in Norway, went to Sweden and saw how they developed the sport, so we learned a lot from them. With InterPadel, we are also going to look to the Nordic market and probably also to the rest of Europe. ”

Kvalheim and Maaseide and InterPadel Leto

InterPadel to bring the padel in Norway

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: Would you like to organize a WPT tournament to give more visibility to the padel in Norway ?

Jan Kvalheim: "InterPadel has planned to organize the national championships in our centers, and we would like to organize a WPT event in the future. Three of us are former athletes - and former world champions (cycling and beach volleyball) - and we want the Norwegian public to see the best of padel international."

“In 2009, we hosted the World Beach Volleyball Championships in Stavanger, Norway with 101 tickets sold - so we have the knowledge and expertise to run big events.”

“Some of us have been living abroad for many years and we have a large international network, which we want to use to develop this sport in Norway, Scandinavia and Europe. Thor Hushovd has lived in Monaco for almost 10 years. I lived in France for 7 years and in Italy for 1 year. Bjørn Maaseide lived in France for 1 year and in the United States for 2 years. ”

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: Are you optimistic about the future of padel in Norway ?

Bjorn Maaseide: “Yes, 100%! Le padel has the potential to achieve the same success in Norway as in Sweden. InterPadel wants to have the best centers, the best grounds, the best atmosphere - and quality is very important to us. One of us created with Rate 75 training centers / gyms in Norway (250 in the Nordic countries, making it one of the biggest gym chains in Europe) and we will use this experience to develop our chain of padel. "

InterPadel Leto # 2

The tennis federation that “padelise ”

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: In Norway, the tennis federation has the delegation of padel. How is the Norwegian federation organized?

Jan Kvalheim: "The padel entered the Norwegian tennis federation in 2015, but this was only the last year that they focused on the padel. "

"The Norwegian Tennis Federation has so far been the governing body of the padel. Someone in their organization works 15% on the padel, but it is said that this percentage will quickly rise to 80-100% in 2021. ”

“Two of us (Kvalheim / Maaseide) played beach volleyball from 1991 to 2000 and brought beach volleyball here to Norway. No one had heard of beach volleyball in Norway when we first started, so we quickly realized that we had to collaborate with the media to promote our sport. Having this experience of promoting a new sport in Norway will be important in this process. ”

"Thor Hushovd, who is a shareholder and member of the board of directors of InterPadel, won ten stages of the Tour de France and is 2010 world champion. He has lived in France and Monaco for many years and has done a lot of research on the padel in southern Europe and Sweden, thanks to its network. ”

InterPadel Leto # 3

Lorenzo Lecci Lopez: What is your relationship with the Norwegian tennis federation?

Jan Kvalheim: "InterPadel has an excellent relationship with the Norwegian Tennis Federation and we have made an appointment with them in the coming month to see how we can collaborate in the growth of the padel in Norway. In our own centers we want to create clubs for members and these projects will also be important for the federation, so we will collaborate with them on these issues. ”

 

From his names, we can guess his Spanish and Italian origins. Lorenzo is a multilingual passionate about sports: journalism by vocation and events by worship are his two legs. He is the international gentleman of Padel Magazine. You will often see it on the various international competitions, but also on the major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best photos of padel !